Florida Department of Child & Families Report of Gabriel Myers Work Group on Child-on-Child Sexual Abuse

Florida Department of Children and Families Secretary George H. Sheldon established the Gabriel Myers Work Group in April 2009 to examine the case of Gabriel Myers, a 7-
year-old who, on April 16, 2009, was found hanging in the home of his foster parents in Margate, Florida. This report, the second of two prepared by this Work Group, focuses on
the issue of child-on-child sexual abuse. The first report, submitted to the Task Force on
Fostering Success on November 19, 2009, provided findings and recommendations relating to the administration of psychotropic medications to children in out-of-home care.

Agency: Department of Justice.Action: Notice; Proposed guidelines.Summary: The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)
establishes minimum national standards for sex offender
registration and notification. The Attorney General issued the
National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification
(‘‘SORNA Guidelines’’ or ‘‘Guidelines’’) on July 2, 2008, to
provide guidance and assistance to jurisdictions in implementing
the SORNA standards in their sex offender registration and
notification programs. These supplemental guidelines augment or
modify certain features of the SORNA Guidelines in order to make a
change required by the KIDS Act and to address
other issues arising in jurisdictions’ implementation of the SORNA
requirements. The matters addressed include certain aspects of
public Web site posting of sex offender information,
interjurisdictional tracking and information sharing regarding sex
offenders, the review process concerning jurisdictions’ SORNA
implementation, the classes of sex offenders to be registered by
jurisdictions retroactively, and the treatment of Indian tribes
newly recognized by the Federal Government subsequent to the
enactment of SORNA.

Purpose: To review, research, and make recommendations to the board of (Broward) county commissioners regarding the issues involved with the residence restrictions of sexual offenders and predators convicted of certain sex offenses.

Abstract
This study examines sexual recidivism, as expressed by new charges
or convictions for sexual offences, using the data from 10
follow-up studies of adult male sexual offenders (combined sample
of 4,724). Results indicated that most sexual offenders do not
re-offend sexually, that first-time sexual offenders are
significantly less likely to sexually re-offend than those with
previous sexual convictions, and that offenders over the age of 50
are less likely to re-offend than younger offenders. In addition,
it was found that the longer offenders remained offence-free in
the community the less likely they are to re-offend sexually. Data
shows that rapists, incest offenders, "girl-victim" child
molesters, and "boy-victim" child molesters recidivate at
significantly different rates. These results challenge some
commonly held beliefs about sexual recidivism and have
implications for policies designed to manage the risk posed by
convicted sexual offenders.

There are many misconceptions about sexual offenses, sexual
offense victims, and sex offenders in our society. Much has been
learned about these behaviors
and populations in the past decade and this information is being
used to develop more effective treatment.

In the Online First Publication of “Quantifying the Decline in Juvenile Sexual Recidivism Rates,”
(Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; July 18, 2016), Dr. Caldwell reviews 106 international
recidivism studies involving more than 33,000 juveniles who have sexually offended.
After transparently controlling for variations between studies, Caldwell determined that
the mean five-year sexual recidivism rate for offenses committed over the last 30 years is
less than 5%. Looking at the most recent 33 studies, since 2000, Caldwell determined “a mean
sexual recidivism rate of 2.75%. This suggests that the most current sexual recidivism rate
is likely to be below 3%.” Longer follow-up periods, up to 36 months, revealed more sexual
recidivism; but thereafter, follow-up times did not significantly increase recidivism rates.